|
|
Volume 2, Issue 5, May 2010
________________________________________________
Dear Friends,
We are very pleased to present this exceptional work by Gustave Charles Housez for your consideration.
It is rare that truly exceptional 19th century paintings
appear on the market by lesser known artists which actualize the very finest
traditions of academic painting in France from this period. La Petite Fille Perdue dans Paris (Little Girl Lost in Paris)
is such a picture.
We invite your inquiries.
Sincerely,
Joyce
& Kevin Anderson
|
GUSTAVE CHARLES HOUSEZ (French, 1822-1880)
La Petite Fille Perdue dans Paris, 1877
Oil on canvas
23 x 18 1/5 inches (30 x 26 inches framed)
Signed and dated upper right: G. Housez 1877
|
|
|
|
|
Provenance
Sothebys,
New York, November 1st, 1995
Private
collection, Los Angeles
Anderson
Galleries, Beverly Hills
Exhibited
Paris Salon of 1877, #
1070.
Literature
Catalogues of the
Paris Salons, 1673-1881, H. Janson, 1887, p. 136.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Biographical information on Housez is slim but we do know
that aside from studies in his native Valenciennes near the Belgium border, he
was a student of Francois-Edouard Picot and in excellent company with this
master's other pupils who included William Adolphe Bouguereau, Alexandre
Cabanel and Gustave Moreau. Housez annually contributed
paintings to the Paris Salon from 1845 to 1880, so he too was undoubtedly an
artist of no small reputation during his lifetime. La Petite Fille Perdue dans Paris (Little Girl Lost in Paris) was his single Salon submission for the
year 1877.
The narrative of this charming genre work is universally recognizable to all of us from our own childhoods. Losing sight
of a parent in a strange place, even for a moment, can never be forgotten. Here, passersby on a busy Paris street surround
and comfort a small girl who has become lost. Though the remains of tears can
still be seen on her cheeks, the arrival of two gendarmes and the circle of friendly and concerned faces have now reassured her that all
will be well.
Housez mastery of composition and technical prowess is evidenced
by placement of nineteen highly detailed figures within the
compact space of the canvas. Beyond the
dramatic effect of the picture, the individual details and nearly three
dimensional rendering of the characters'
clothes and accessories document the daily life, dress and manners of 19th
Century France in an extraordinary way.
Museum Collections: Musee de Poitiers, France, Musee des
Beaux-Arts, Rheims, France.
Condition: The painting is lined and in excellent condition.
|
__________________________________________________________________
click here to
visit us on facebook
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
